Grilled Radicchio Salad with Gorgonzola and Balsamic Vinaigrette

For this grilled radicchio salad, radicchio is quartered, brushed with olive oil, and grilled until crunchy-soft. It’s then tossed with blue cheese and drizzled with a quick vinaigrette. Equal parts sweet and smoky.

Quartering radicchio heads lengthwise and grilling them transforms its taste from bitter to gently sweet and smoky. Showering the hot-off-the-grill leaves with balsamic dressing and crumbled Gorgonzola add complexity, though not in a gild-the-lily sort of way.–Christine Hanna

LC What To Sip Note

Some foods are trickier to pair with a wine than others. This is one of those tricky ones, seeing as there’s a sweetly bitter component, a highly acidic vinegar (or vinaigrette, if you will) component, and a pungent blue cheese component. But since this recipe comes from a book titled The Winemaker Cooks, we’re not going to shy away from recommending a wine, nor is author Hanna. She suggests a pinot grigio, explaining that its “zingy acidity is a nice foil for the richness of the Gorgonzola in the salad.”

Directions

1. Preheat a gas grill to medium-high or prepare a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill.

2. Rinse the radicchio quarters and pat them dry. Brush the radicchio quarters with oil and place the heads on the grill rack. Cover, and cook, turning as necessary, until grill-marked but still crunchy in the middle, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup olive oil, the vinegars, mustard, salt, and pepper. Divide the grilled quarters among plates and crumble the Gorgonzola over the top. Drizzle with the balsamic vinaigrette and serve pronto.

Recipe Testers Reviews

Yummers! Having tried many grilled radicchio versions, I was thrilled to find this is my new favourite. I just love the succulent yet frazzly caramelized radicchio with the pucker of the Dijon and the sweetness of the balsamic. The creamy, crumbly, slightly melty cheese makes it pretty near to perfect. Extremely well balanced. It also looks beautiful. Just thinking about it right now is nearly driving me crazy. Maybe some toasted walnut halves would go well, too…

This radicchio recipe is very quick and easy to prepare and will complement almost any grilled fare. The grilling and the vinaigrette temper the bitterness of the radicchio to create a very nice medley of flavours. This is also very amenable to variations. You could use a little honey or maple syrup instead of the balsamic, and a smoked cheese instead of the gorgonzola (although any rich blue cheese works). However you prepare this, try removing the tough-ish core pieces from the radicchio before serving. It holds the leaves of the radicchio quarters together while grilling, but I’ve found it to be not so palatable.

Comments

Exactly, Ling. More for you! And who knows? Perhaps by seeing you try it, your husband will one day be curious enough to sample it. Sort of like with kids, who won’t alway try something the first or second or third (or even thirteenth) time it’s on their plate or on the table, but who will eventually give it a go with repeated exposure…

Renee – I’ve tried a few times – but maybe if I toss some bacon bits into the mix, he’ll be converted! I’m just wondering what it would be like if I used radicchio di treviso – it’s such a beautiful vegetable! Probably end up sticking it in some water and admiring it instead of eating it…

Wait, are we married to the same man?! Bacon does work wonders that way, doesn’t it? Not that I have anything against pig, it’s just…sigh.
As for your other lovely thought, I am all for beauty on the plate…

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